Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Peugeot 206

The Peugeot 206 is a supermini (subcompact car), manufactured by the French automaker Peugeot from 1998 to 2010.Even though the 206 has finished production in most markets as of 2010, it is still available in Europe since 2009, as the '206+'.During the early 1990s, Peugeot decided not to directly replace the Peugeot 205, citing the reason that superminis were no longer profitable or worthwhile. Instead, Peugeot followed a unique strategy and decided that its new, smaller, supermini, the Peugeot 106 (launched in 1991)

would take sales from the lower end of the 205 range while the lowest models of the Peugeot 306 range, launched in 1993 to replace the Peugeot 309, would take sales from the top-end 205s. Between the 106 and 306, Peugeot hoped that the 205 would not need to be replaced, and could be phased out slowly, while customers who would normally plump for the 205 would continue to have a choice with either a smaller or larger car.Unfortunately for Peugeot, this strategy did not work. With the 205 phased out, other superminis like the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo continued to sell well and even increased in popularity, and without a direct competitor to these cars Peugeot was losing sales fast.A new supermini was required, and the 206 was launched in 1998 as a somewhat belated replacement for the 205.
Peugeot 206

Although the peugeot 206 moniker indicates a direct continuation from the 205, some critics state that the car should have instead been badged 207. This is because Peugeot launched its latest generation of cars in the early to mid 1990s, with the 106 of 1991, the 306 of 1993 and the 406 of 1995.Its eventual successor - the Peugeot 207 - was launched in 2006. As of 2010, the twelve-year-old 206 was Peugeot's best-selling car of all time.It was built in France and England until the end of 2006. The end of British production coincided with the closure of the Ryton plant which Peugeot had taken over when buying Chrysler's European division in 1979.From April 2010,the Peugeot 206 was no longer listed on Peugeot's current UK model range.That is implying that RHD production has ended.Production for LHD markets finished in June 2010

The 206 was originally launched as a hatchback with 1.1L, 1.4L, and 1.6L petrol engines and a 1.9L diesel engine, a HDi version with common rail coming later. In 1999 a 2.0L GTi capable of 210 km/h (130 mph), and in 2003 a tuned version of the GTi called the Peugeot 206 RC (GTi 180 in the UK), were added to the range .It did 0–100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 7.4 seconds and it reached a top speed of 220 km/h (137 mph) with 177 PS (130 kW). In 2001, two more versions of the 206 were launched - the 206 CC (coupé convertible) with a folding steel roof and the 206 SW station wagon. A 4-door notchback sedan version, developed by Iran Khodro, was unveiled in late 2005, and it is available in the Iranian, North African, Chinese, Russian, Romanian, Turkish and Bulgarian markets.

Peugeot 206

The 206 was mainly manufactured in Peugeot's Poissy and Mulhouse factories although the car is also produced by Iran Khodro in Iran for that market; a notchback sedan model was developed in Iran under the name "Peugeot 206 SD" which will reportedly be exported as well.^[1] It was assembled in Chile for the Mexican and Colombian markets (French made 206s were cheaper than Chilean-built ones, in Chile). The Brazilian production in Porto Real, Rio de Janeiro, started in 2001, followed by the SW version in 2005. The Brazilian production features 1.0L 16V, 1.4L 8V, and 1.6L 16V engines, the last two of which are flexible fuel engines (petrol/ethanol). The 1.0L version used a Renault-sourced engine and was produced until 2006.The Peugeot 206 was also built at Ryton in Coventry, England, however, with the introduction of the '207' to the range Peugeot decided to pull the plug on the Ryton factory which closed in January, 2007 with the loss of 2,300 jobs making it another blow to the British motor industry after MG Rover collapsed. The Peugeot 206 proved to be a sales success all over Europe. It was the best-selling car in Europe from 2001 to 2003. The 1.4L XR was the best-selling model. On May 26, 2005, the 206 celebrated the five millionth unit produced since its commercial launch on 10 September 1998. Sales in the United Kingdom were strong from the start, with the 206 regularly being among the nation's five most popular new cars during its first six years on sale. Second-hand examples of the 206 traditionally hold their value well, due to high demand.The Peugeot 206 is also being produced in Buenos Aires, Argentina since 1999. The models being manufactured are XR, XRD, XS, XT and XTD. The diesel powered versions use the naturally aspirated DW engine. The XT was later announced to be a special edition of 206, with models becoming increasingly rare. Good examples have been known to be valued at figures exceeding £50,000 (Valued 12/02/09).In May 2006, the Malaysian car manufacturer Naza launched a locally assembled version of the 206 with the name of "206 Bestari". In 2006, Peugeot started production of the 206 in China. In September 2006 Citroën China produced a slightly modified Peugeot 206 called Citroën C2 (this car has nothing in common with the European Citroën C2).